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(No Model.) 2 sheets-sheet 1.

H. S. MAXIM.

\ Y GAS MOTOR'. No. 291.065.`

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v(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

H. s. MAXIM.

GAS MOTOR.

No. 291,065. Patented Jan. 1, 1884.

N. PETERS. Fhowulmgnpmr. washingmn, 0.a.

UNITED. STATES tArnNr rrrcii.

HIRAM s. MAxiM, or rAnis, FnANcn.

GAS-Moro R.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters kPatent No. 291,065, dated January1, 1884. Application filed Januaryv 16, 1883. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom it' may concern:

Beit known that I, HIRAM S. MAXIM, a citizen of the United States,atpresent resid- Y ing in Paris, in the Republic of France, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Gas-Motors, of` whichthe following is Va specification, reference being had to the drawingsaccompanying and forming a part of the same.

, My invention relates to motors operated by the explosion of mixedcharges of air and gas under a piston, connected with suitable mechanismfor converting and utilizing the power developed by the explosions. Themain ob-l I jects of the invention are to produce a cheap,

' engine of the kind described, of two cylinders` a working and exhaustcylinder-the latter of relativelylarge size,`and both opentoavacuumcompact, and durable engine, and one which will run at a highrate of speed and develop-a? great amountv of power for a given quantityof gas consumed.

The general and distinguishing features of the invention are, first, thecombination, in an chamber with connected pistons working in the same,these and the remaining parts of the engine being so constructed thatthe` larger or exhaust piston will produce a partial vacuum and removeat the end of each stroke the products of combustion from the smaller orworking cylinder; secondly, the'combination, with the working-cylinder,of a pump for forcing in charges of air and gas,W the piston of which israised by a cam and'forced downward byA the combined action of gravityand a spring,

in section; Fig. 3, ardetail of the governing or regulating mechanism;Figg'a horizontal section on areduced scale on line xx of Fig. 1.Similar letters indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

A and B are two cylinders, placed in line one above the other. Ais theworking-cylinder of the engine; B, a cylinder of larger diameter,designed as a vacuum-cylinder.

A is a piston working in cylinder A; B', a larger piston, working incylinder B. These pistons are both mounted on or operated by the .samerod, C, and may .be cast in a single piece when so desired. OylinderA isinclosed in the usual water-jacket, D, through which a circulation ofwater is maintained for cooling the cylinder, a and a being respectivelythe inlet and outlet for the water. The upper portion of the jacket D isseparated from the wa- `piston f of pump F is on a rod, F, the upper endof which connects with the openV or slotted plate G. Through this platepasses the crankshaft E, and a guide-wheel, e, fixed to the frame oftheengine, holds the plate in position, permitting it to move freely upanddown. On the crankshaft E, and keyed to it, is a sleeve, e', capable ofa to-and-fro movement.

Gr is a cam carried by sleeve e and d, a wheel carried by the plate G. Astout spiral spring, S, connected to the frame of the engine and to therod F', tends to draw the latter downward.

v weights H H, with arms H H', that are connected with thegsleeve e.Spiral springs s s .connect the governor-weights, and tend to IOO thequantity or quality of each charge. It will be understood, then, thatwhen the engine is first started, or is running at slow or normalspeeds, the force of springs s s keeps the weights H H in such positionthat the cam G is held over under the wheel d, so that a charge of gasor gas and air is admitted to the cylinder A at every revolution of thecrank-shaft. Should the speed run up, however, as by lightening the loadon the engine, weights H Hare thrown outward by centrifugal forceagainst the force of springs s s', the sleeve c is by this meansshifted, and the cam G carried out of line with the wheel d. No chargewill in consequence be delivered to the working-cylinder until thenormal speed is again reached.

Entering the lower part of the cylinder A is an exploding-piston, I,that is operated by a bell-crank lever, h, connected by a rod, 7:,withthe strap of an eccentric,

.I is a flame-chimney of ordinary construction, in which a flame is keptconstantlyburning. A passage is formed from this chimney through thecasing or cylinder, in which works piston I, as shown in Fig. 4. Thepiston I consists of a solid portion, i', and a chambered end withopenings on both sides, as shown in Figs. l and 4, so that when it isdrawn out it carries with it a charge of gas which is ignited by contactwith the flamej. On the return of the piston the burning charge in itscham- 'bered end is thrust suddenly into the space beneath the piston A,thus iguiting the charge therein. Above the plate bisarecess, K, intowhich the piston B partly enters when in its lowest position.

K is an exhaust-passage containing a checkvalve, k, connected with thisspace and serving to carry off the products of combustion withdrawn fromcylinder A.

In the bottom of cylinder Ais a large valve, L, opening inward foradmitting air into the cylinder A when the piston A has reached a pointabove aline of perforations, m, leading into the space D. lithvalveLaspring may be used for controlling its action.

The valve mechanism connected with the pump is as follows: M is a valvecomposed of a short cylinder, thehead of which rests upon a seat, a. Aline of perforations, t, is formed in the side of the cylinder near thehead, and a spindle, o, connected to the valve, extends through thepassage of communication between the cylinder A andthe pump-cylinder. Aspiral spring, p, is used to keep valve M closed, and a cap, t', isscrewed over the end of the spindle to prevent leakage. Into the passageIn lead two valves, one, as r, an airvalve with a lid, yr', or similarmeans for closing it, the other, as v, a gas-valve controllingcommunication with a suitable gas-supply through a pipe, lt". As it isdesirable to vary the amount of gas admitted to the engine, I use anordinary cock-valve consisting of a cup, w', with an opening thatregisters with the pipe o. Ahandle, or, turusthis cup and closes o moreor less the passage. A pointer, ./r, may be attached tothe handle w anda scale cut on the valve-casing for indicating the amount of gas that isbeing admitted for a given position of the handle a?.

For maintaining the necessary lubrication ofthe crank and shaft, I useoil-cups T U V. The cups T U supply oil to the bearings. The cup V has awick, V', that is touched by a cup, W, at each revolution of the crank.A drop of oil is thus taken oil' at each contact.

Other details of construction will be indicated in the followingdescription of the opereration of the engine. The crank-shaft beingrotated by hand or otherwise in the direction indicated by the arrow,the pump F is operated, being illed with a mixture of gas and airthrough the valves r and t. When cam G', which causes this, has reacheda point where the wheel d drops off from it, the combined action of theweight of the piston f and the spring S will force the mixed gasesthrough valve M into the cylinder. The valve M being cylindrical in formand provided with a number of holes, the gases entering are driven withgreat force through these holes, and its mixture with the air in thecylinder is quickly accomplished. The cam is so adjusted on thecrank-shaft that the pump-piston falls at the moment when theworking-piston A has passed far enough into the cylinder to close offthe openings m m. XVhen the gas and air are both in the cylinder and thepiston A has reached the point shown in the drawings, the air and gasbeneath it in the cylinder A will have been compressed about fortypounds to the square inch. At this moment the llame is thrown into thischamber by the action of the eccentric t', bell-crank lever 71, andexploding-piston I. Then the explosion takes place, the pressureproduced in A will beabout one hundred and seventy-five pounds to thesquare inch; but complete combustion will not take place until thepiston has traveled nearly its whole stroke from the fact that the gasesdo not have time enough to dispose of their heat, and perfect'combustion cannot take place except the gases have some means ofdisposing of their heat. Therefore a high pressure is maintained duringnearly the complete length of the stroke. When, however, the piston haspassed over the openings m m, the exploded gases instantly' escape intothe chamber D. As the piston B is attached to the same rod that A is, apartial vacuum will be produced in D and in cylinder B, and the gasesescaping from the smaller cylinder not being able to iill this vacuum,fresh air is drawn in through the large valve L. The piston B beingconsiderably larger tha-11 the piston A, the quantity of fresh air drawnin at L will be suiiicient to re! move all the exploded gases completelyfrom the smaller cylinder. WVhen the piston A' has again covered theopenings m m in its upward stroke, the piston of the pump F agaii"falls,and a fresh charge of explosive gases is forced IIO into the space belowthe piston. The piston vents destructive heating of the apparatus.

The cubic capacity of the pump F should be about one-sixth part of thatof the cylinder A,so that if the pump F should be completely filled.with gas the charge in the cylinder A would be six of air-to one of gas.To effect this the air-valve r will have to be closed, then at eachstroke of the pump the pump will be filled completelyl with gas, theindex-valve being opened sufficiently to admit of this. If, however, itis desired to put a less quantity of gas in at each stroke, theindex-valve is partially closed and air is admitted at r. If thequantity of air and gas admitted be equal, then the Working-cylinderwould contain at each explosion a mixture of twelve parts of air to oneof gas. By mixing a portion of the air with lthe gas before it entersthe exploding-cylinder, and then passing it with great rapidity throughthe perforations in the sleeve of the valve M, the mixing is performedquick enough to admit of a very high speed of the engine. rIhe gasespass from the chamber D to the chamber K through the annular check-valve b', and when the piston B descends these gases are forced outthrough the exhaust check-valve k. Of course it would be possible todispense altogether with the check-valve b and to construct thepistonsboth in one piece. This would admit of making the engine somewhatshorter, but it would also require that the piston B should be somewhatlarger, in order to suck all the gases out of the smaller cylinder. Y

In other applications I have described more fully and claimed this andother improvements not embodied in the present claims.

I am aware that two connected cylinders or a cylinder having one portionof greater diameter than another, and connected pistons uniting therein,have been heretofore used,and such, therefore, I do not broadly claim.

Having thus described my invention and the most practicable manner inwhich the same is or may be carried into effect, what Iclaim as new1s#- 1. An air or gas engine comprising, in com- -bination,the followinginstrumentalities, to

wit: .a working-'cylinder and means for exploding therein charges of gasand air, a pisl ton impelled by such explosions, a vacuous chamberbrought into communication with the working-cylinder by the movement ofthe piston, avalve for admitting air into the cylinder when connectedwith the vacuous chamber, and means for introducing explosive chargesinto the cylinder, these parts being constructed and combined forco-operative action in substantially the manner set forth. Y

2. Ina gas-enginathe combination,with the working-cylinder and piston,of avacu'um-cylinder of greater capacity, a piston working therein, andan intermediate recess or chamber with which theworking-cylinderisbrought into communication by the withdrawal of its piston, whereby atthe end of each stroke the gases are withdrawn froml theworking-cylinder, in the manner described.

3. The combination, with the working-cylinder of a gas-engine, of a pumpfor introducing explosive charges into said cylinder, means forpositively raising the piston of the pump and then disengaging it, and aspring for forcing it downward, all as set forth. y

4. rIhe combination, in a gasengine, of the working and vacuum cylindersconnected in the manner described, the pistons working in saidcylinders, and the intermediate chambers of communication at andaroundthe ends of said cylinders, as described.

5. The combination, with the working and vacuum cylinders and pistonscontained therein, of intermediate chambers of communication ator aroundthe ends of the cylinders, the working-cylinder being perforated insubstantially the manner described, whereby communication is establishedbetween the two cylinders through said intermediate chambers on thepartial withdrawal of the pistons, as and for the purpose set forth.

6. The combination, with the working and vacuum cylinders and pistonscontained therein, of chambers or vacuous spaces located around the endsof and between said cylinders, and exhaust connected with the saidchambers, as and for the purposes set forth.

7. The combination, in a gas-engine, of a working cylinder and pistonand a vacuum cylinder and piston, an automatic air-check valve openinginto the working-cylinder, and an exhaust-valve opening outward, theseparts being combined in substantially'the manner described.

8. rThe combination, with the working-cylinder of a gas-engine, of apump forintroducing charges of air and gas into the cylinder, and avalvelocated between the cylinder and pump,

' and provided with a number of perforations,

through which the air and gas are forced when the valve is open, as andfor the purpose set forth.

9. The combination, with the working-cylinder, of the pump F, theperforated valve M, with air and gas inlet valves, and means forcontrolling the Same, as and for the purpose specified.

l0. The combination, with the pump F, piston-rodf, and plate G, ofspring S and cam G', all as set forth.

11. The combination, with the working-cyl inder, of the chamberedpiston, the Hamechimney, a bell-crank lever connected with the piston,and an eccentric for operating the bell-crank lever, all as set forth.

12. The combination of the bell-crank lever h, rod h', eccentric 17,piston I, containing a IOO IIO

chamber at its inner end, und the flzune-chimvalve M, pump F, and valveseonnectingthereney J, these parts being eonstrueted'and n1'- With, andexhaust-vulve, these parts being 1o ranged in such a manner that ldiepiston I constructed in the manner spee1iied.

thrusts the izune directly into the interior of y x j Y n the working 0rexplosion cylinder, in the HIRAM S' MAXIM' manner described.\Vit11esses:

13. The combination, with the Working-Gy]- SARAH HAYNES, inder, of :u1induction-valve, L, perforated EDMOND M.OLOUG11LIN.

